The district attorney of Navarro County sought the recusal of state District Judge Charlie Baird in a high-profile court of inquiry that was set to start today to determine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for the deaths of his three daughters. The motion raised the possibility that the two-day hearing […]
Prosecutorial Misconduct
“The petition warrants a hearing,” Judge Baird
The inquiry into the Willingham case will be held in his courtroom on Oct. 6-7, but Judge Baird said that it could be extended if necessary. Supporters of Cameron Todd Willingham hailed the Austin district judge’s decision last Monday to open a two-day court of inquiry next month. He will determine whether Willingham was wrongfully convicted and […]
Zeigler, Part XIV
After speaking with William Thomas Zeigler’s relatives, more information came out that shows that people have been tampering with the crime scene. When Mr. Zeigler arrived in the hospital for emergency surgery, law enforcement officers contacted the Zeigler family to let them know that he was shot. At that time, nobody yet knew where his wife […]
Update Skinner
From the Texas Moratorium Network: On October 13, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Skinner v. Switzer to determine whether Hank Skinner‘s request for DNA testing can be considered as a civil rights claim rather than as part of his death penalty appeal. Skinner has always maintained his innocence. Mr. Skinner has asked for […]
Zeigler, Part XIII the crime scene
Zeigler, Part XIII WARNING: this post contains graphic crime scene photography. They are not included to sensationalize the case but because they tell a story. View at your own risk. ________________________________________________________________ Zeigler’s first trial attorney Ralph “Terry” Hadley III had suggested that the motive for these murders was not robbery or insurance money as the […]
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case has me despondent. A Texas state board said last Friday that arson investigators in the Willingham case used flawed science but were not negligent in an investigation that led to a controversial 2004 execution. The panel also said that investigators did not commit misconduct. Cameron Todd Willingham was […]
The 2004 Willingham execution
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze — but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic […]
Lapointe hearings resume Aug 2010
Questions about how long a fire burned at Mrs. Martin’s apartment and possibly tainted DNA evidence on a pair of gloves found at the crime scene were brought up last Thursday during a hearing for Richard Lapointe. Mrs. Bernice Martin was raped, stabbed and strangled in her apartment in Manchester on March 8, 1987. Lapointe was convicted […]
False Confessions
Lisa Black and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune have written an excellent piece about false confessions. False confessions are not so uncommon as you would think. Why would a parent confess to raping their own three-year old or murdering their own grandmother? If you really are not guilty, nothing in the world could make you […]
Lapointe hearing July 7-8-9, 2010
Christopher Cosgrove, Lapointe’s public defender during the criminal trial, and Henry Theodore Vogt, who sought a new trial for Lapointe in the late 1990s, testified during the latest hearing seeking a new trial for Lapointe. Paul Casteleiro, Lapointe’s current lawyer, focused on what Cosgrove and Vogt didn’t do when they handled the Lapointe case in […]